Monday, December 22, 2014

This year while I was putting together I couldn't help but take stock in the personal or sentimental ornaments that we have.

This Tigger ornament is the is the first ornament I bought myself when I moved away from home.

The football snowman ornament we picked up that summed up our time in Alabama.

Roll Tide!

Obviously our first Christmas as a married couple.

It was also the first Christmas with the puppies.

Obvious Baby's First Christmas is a huge sentimental one even if Hubby was deployed for it.

It was given to him by his godparents. It is beautiful. I love it.

This year while on our trip to Natchitoches, LA we picked up a few more. These ones are just general ones we liked.

Much like the Alabama ornament, we have been searching for a Louisiana Ornament. One that can represent our time here.

This is our Papa Noel ornament. It is believed that in the bayou Papa Noel, or as we call him Santa, rides in a boat pulled by alligators to deliver presents to the children. The people light fires along the bayou to help guide Papa Noel along the water. This is a simple version of the one told to me by one of our Cajun neighbors. I think this an adorable tale for children. I found a cute book about for Bear to read to him in the coming years about this very tale. So with papa Noel atop an alligator it is a fitting ornament for our time in Louisiana.

Thursday, December 18, 2014

We decided to take a trip up to Natchitoches, LA a couple weeks back. It is the home of the third best light show in the country and home of Steel Magnolias.

I was excited to see and learn all about the story behind Steel Magnolia. See the house. Experience the town. Imagine what it was like back in the day, the brick roads helped. As is the fact that very little has changed.

OK, enough of my love affair for steel Magnolias and on to the beautiful town of Natchitoches.

I love reading these things.

There were all these cute little shops and antique stores that we went into.

Real flames! I love it!

We then headed down to the river walk area.

We did not get a chance to see it all lit up but it still looks pretty to me.

You can faintly see the lights.

This is from the other side of the river walk.

Over looking the river.

If you ever get to the area you need to visit this place especially during the Holidays.

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

29. Eat bacon in something it really doesn't belong in (ie. a cupcake)

I picked up a bag from the store that was maple bacon cookie mix. They were pretty good. I think they needed the icing that I was too cheap to buy. I may need to find a homemade recipe that would really punch up the flavors.

33. Bring or send Christmas cookies to at least three different people (4/3)

I sent hubby to work with some tubs of cookies to give out. I made a total of 3 tubs and one for some of our friends. Overall this is one I may do again next year. It reminded how much I love baking and trying new cookie recipes.

74. Surprise hubby with a gift I know he wants but will not get himself

Well this Christmas shopping for hubby was difficult but I was able to pick up a few surprise. You can read about what he got here.

84. Buy a piece of clothing out of my comfort zone

Skinny jeans

Working on

3. Develop 5 new family family traditions (2/5)

I mentioned the Christmas Eve box in my last 101 update but now it is finished!

We also decided that we are going to read one story from this books every day until Christmas. They are great stories with beautiful pictures.

This month I made Winter stew. Its meanly made up of butternut squash, spinach, and beans just to name a few ingredients. I wish I had kept a picture of the end result but here is what I took when I was prepping for it.

20. Bake something new every month for this project (sweet or savory) (5/31)I made Strata this month. It was very yummy! I do wish I had taken pictures of it. 22. Cook... 10 New Dinners (2/10)We made Chicken Dumpling Soup. It really is fabulous.

24. Do twenty-five food related pinterest pins (1/25)

Grinch cookies. I made them for the cookie exchange for the coffee group. Despite not having the heart sprinkles they needed, I think the icing worked well as a substitute.

57. Watch 25 movies that Hubby recommends that I have not seen (8/25)I am plugging away on this one for sure.

Taking pic of my tv screen seems to make the picture look funny.

This movie really was pretty good. Its all plot with a bit of action. I like movies like this a lot. Frankly I think over all this movie was pretty good.

I also watched Captain America: winter soldier, Thor, Thor: the Dark World, and Guardians of the Galaxy. All were pretty good! Then again I like the marvel/DC movies so this wasn't so much of a push to watch them.

Charming Charlie has made this one too easy to complete. I am counting the items that I purchased for myself and those that I received as gifts.

This is what I got for my Birthday.

101. Go through all my clothing, donate any unwanted usable clothing

I started going through my clothes this week. I have too much stuff. Things I hold onto for no reason what so ever. Things I'll never fit in again. Two garbage bags later and I'd say that our yard sale pile has doubled.

Yeah this is going to obviously be a redo. I put this on here with the intent to keep my nails and/or looking nice all the time. Well I haven't been keeping up on the nail polish but I have been weekly filing and buffing my nails. So the intent of this has been achieved but I do really need to start painting my nails again. So hopefully I can set aside some time every week to actually do this. However I don't think will likely happen while we are here in Louisiana. Maybe the next location? Who knows.

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